Hello from Brazil!introducing myself

Hello!
I'm a 32 years old female former amateur ballet dancer from Brazil.
I've been lurking around this forum for a while and finally decided to register and post.
First of all I'd like to apologize for my english - not my native language - and possible future mystakes.
That said, I'd like to thanks the moderators and who had the wonderful idea of creating this forum!
Itīs the best place to go to learn and understand the fine aspects of the most beautiful art form of all ( in my humble opinion)!
I studied classical ballet for 8 years and danced non professionaly for another 7 ( 3 years in the corps and 4 as a soloist).
I stopped when I graduated from college - I'm a Physical Therapist. Itīs been 9 years now.
Itīs one of the few regrets I have in life and probably I'm just gonna start taking classes again sometime!
In Brazil, dance ( in all it's forms ) is very popular and so is ballet! Well, not as popular as soccer, but every time I go to a ballet recital ( from local or foreign companies) it's full house! Of course we don't have the same access you guys have in Europe or North America: we only have one official repertory ballet company ( that I know of ) and foreign companies just don't tour here often enough! Besides, I don't live in Rio or São Paulo, wich makes things more difficult. But I do have a large and expanding dvd and video collection and try to keep track of everything happening around the world ( the net makes it easy ). It's not the same as if I was able to see it alive, but is better than nothing...
And, I don't believe ballet is dead or dying! Not while there are efforts like this forum around!
Did I say thank you guys yet?
Best wishes for all!

You did indeed say thank you, adrika; you're welcome. We're very glad to have you with us on Ballet Talk. We hope you continue to enjoy reading and learning more about ballet as you study the site; all of us here share your love of ballet. We have a sister site, Ballet Talk for Dancers, which can be reached at the upper right hand corner of this page. There you'll find forums designed for, among other things, adult dance students; you may find this interesting as you decide whether or not to take up dance classes again. If you register on that forum use your same name as on this site so that we know who you are.

Mmm, from La Samba caliente you come. (I decided that in a near future I WILL PARADE ALONG EL SAMBODROMO, dancing samba...gustoso!!! (I love dancing samba, BTW) )
Anyways, welcome, and if i remember her name, i will be asking you about a brazilian ballerina who was in one of the Miami International Ballet Festivals doing an espectacular Black Swan, with soutees on pointe and everything!